Chapter 346
"She … she kicked again!" Cristoa shouted with a blissful smile.
Asuna ran out of the garden, wiped the dust off her hands on her clothes, and helped Cristoa sit down with Cynthia.
After the three women played around, Cristoa felt a little hungry. "Cynthia, your brother is back. He's playing with Crowe upstairs. Go up and tell them to come down. Let's get ready for dinner."
The 'brother' Cristoa was referring to was Cynthia's own brother, Adonis. He was eight years old and was also studying at the Turií School.
Cynthia got up and was about to go upstairs when she saw a plate of something black on the wooden table next to her. She asked curiously, "What's this?"
"This is meat jerky that your aunt Andrea smoked with beef and salt according to your father's suggestion. It was specially sent from Grumentum for us to try first," Cristoa said.
Cynthia grabbed a small piece and took a bite. "It's a little hard."
She chewed hard for a while and swallowed. "It tastes good after a while, but it's a little salty. It's good as a snack."
"Your father plans to use this jerky as part of the soldiers' rations." Cynthia's unintentional words made Cristoa's eyes light up. She only cared about the taste. As for using too much salt, she didn't care. Ever since the Devers asked the people at the Diónia School to think of a way to improve the method of drying salt, the production of sea salt had increased greatly and the price of salt was extremely low.
Cynthia stuffed the whole jerky into her mouth and walked around the garden.
There was a small altar on the other side of the garden. A stone statue of Artemis smiled with a bow. The statue was exactly the height of a person and was carved very vividly. After Aegnis, the pearl of Lijim, married the Devers, she couldn't forget her time as the priestess of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, even though the Devers made her the chief priestess of the Temple of Hera. After getting her husband's permission, she built a small altar of Artemis in the backyard. She didn't expect Cynthia to become a believer of the goddess. Perhaps it was because the Greeks regarded Artemis as the goddess of the moon, and the night was her world. The name "Cynthia" originally meant moon, so there was a natural sense of closeness. So Cynthia prayed to Artenis devoutly before she walked into the main building.
Seeing Cynthia enter the building, Asuna hesitantly said to Christoya, "Madam, aren't we going to … wait for Madam Aegnis to come back for dinner?"
Christoya was stunned for a moment before she smiled and said, "She has to prepare for tomorrow's wedding celebration. She'll probably be busy in the temple until late at night. We don't have to wait for her. With her personality, she won't care. "
"What about Master?"
"Don't wait. The Senate had been in a meeting for the past two days, and no one knew when it would end. It's all because of those nobles and merchants who caused trouble in the square … and that damned Polyxis! "Once this matter was brought up, Cristoya was a little annoyed.
… …
"Esteemed elders, it's not just in Turií, but also in Crimissa, Picossis, Armendora, and other cities. Many people have come to the square to protest. Please open the door and listen to their voices. Listen, they are shouting, 'Call for a citizens' assembly! '"
Polyxis' impassioned speech was immediately interrupted by Antonios, "As far as I know, in Turií and Crimissa, there are actually only a small number of people protesting. It's not a 'majority' like you said! Moreover, such a thing did not happen at all in Amendolara and Picosis! "
"That's right, as a citizen of Armendora, I can attest to the truth of Antonios' words!" Scombras said.
Polyxis had expected that someone would say this, so he sneered, "Just because no one said anything doesn't mean that no one has any objections. The citizens are just hiding their dissatisfaction in their hearts, not daring to express it. Now that I think about it, it's funny. Their demands are very simple and not excessive. Do we really need to be so nervous? You know, as long as it's a city-state established by the Greeks, there will definitely be a citizens' assembly! Even if we go back to the era of kings a few hundred years ago, as long as there is a king, the citizens' assembly still exists! Only a city-state under the rule of a tyrant, because they are afraid of the people, they dare not have a citizens' assembly, just like Syracuse. "
As Polyxis spoke, he turned to face the Devers in front of him and mustered up his courage to ask, "May I ask, Honorable Consul, is our … our alliance being ruled by a tyrant?!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.
The Devers remained calm, as if he didn't know that Polyxis' words were directed at him, "Of course not. The Diónia Alliance is under the joint management of the elders of the Senate. "The Devers' words were indifferent, without a trace of anger.
"Then does the law of Diónia prohibit the holding of a citizens' assembly?!" Polyxis became bolder and continued to ask.
"Of course not." The Devers still answered unhurriedly.
"In this case, it's reasonable for the people to request for a citizens' assembly. I hope the Senate will carefully consider this matter and not let the citizens down!" Polyxis saw that the Devers had fallen into his trap, so he took the opportunity to speak loudly.
"Honorable Polyxis, holding a citizens' assembly is not an easy thing to do." Cunogorata stood up and said, "The situation of the Diónia Alliance is very different from that of the other Greek city-states. Our citizens are not concentrated in one city-state, but in all the cities of the Alliance. Just gathering them is a big problem that requires both time and energy! In addition, the citizens of Diónia are not only Greeks, but also Lucarians and Bruti. They don't know what a citizens' assembly is, and they have never participated in one before. If we hold a citizens' assembly rashly, not only will they be at a loss, it is very likely that the order of the citizens' assembly will fall into chaos, and we will become the laughingstock of our neighbors … "
Cunogorata enumerated the difficulties of holding a citizens' assembly in Diónia. In fact, he had a private thought in his mind: as a powerful person in the Senate of Diónia, he didn't want the citizens' assembly to be held, because he was tired of the times when he was in Turií. In order to be elected as a general, he had to please the citizens, attack his political enemies, and do things against his will. After being elected, if he was not careful, his political enemies might incite the citizens and force him to step down. It was far better to do things in a down-to-earth manner now, and only need to be responsible to the Alliance, to … Devers.
In fact, there were many people who had the same idea as him, such as: Cornelus, Scombras … and so on, some of the elders who had always been in charge of the Alliance.
"Master Cunogorata is right! We Bruti people don't care about the citizens' assembly, as long as we have food to eat, women to sleep, and wine to drink, that's enough! " Cydorum pretended to be bold and said loudly, "We Bruti people only believe that whoever is stronger, whoever has the bigger fist, they will obey!"
"We Lucarians are the same, the citizens' assembly is too troublesome, we are not interested!" Hemont immediately responded.
The other two major forces in the Senate, Lucaria and Bruti, objected, which made Polyxis' face a little ugly, but he still didn't intend to give up, and continued to say, "It is difficult to hold a citizens' assembly, but if we give up because of the difficulty, is this the way we Diónia people do things? The construction of Turií — Laos Avenue requires us to cross over the mountains, it is very difficult, but didn't we finally finish it after a few years of hard work!
The citizens have been looking forward to the citizens' assembly for a long time. When Diónia was first established, it was faced with a threat to its survival, so it had to unify the minds of the people and concentrate all its strength to defeat the strong enemy. Therefore, it was completely understandable that the citizens' assembly, which took a lot of time and energy, was temporarily stopped. But now, Diónia is stable and prosperous, the people are rich and leisurely, as the Greeks who have a strong tradition of participating in the politics of the city, the citizens of Diónia have always demanded for the citizens' assembly to be held more and more year after year! As the most honorable representatives of the citizens of Diónia, I hope you can deeply understand this point, and make the right choice in time. Don't wait until the citizens' dissatisfaction accumulates to a dangerous level before you make a decision in a hurry, that will not be good for the Senate and the Alliance of Diónia! "
Polyxis's passionate yet threatening words caused the expressions of many of the people present to change slightly.
The Devers looked at Polyxis thoughtfully.
"Now, it is up to everyone to vote on whether to pass the motion to convene the citizens' assembly!" The rotating president, Cornelus, announced loudly.
As usual, the Legion Elders expressed their opposition, and so did the Lucanian Elders. Most of the Elders with real power also disagreed. Those who supported Polyxis were mostly Elders who had not been put in an important position, and most of them were from the Turií Faction. But among those who supported the motion, the Devers saw Burcos, Petaru, and even the Navy Commander of Diónia, Enanilos …
The Devers narrowed his eyes, and a faint cold light flashed through his eyes.
… …
When he came out of the Senate, it was already late. The spring night was still cool, but Polyxis's Bolton shirt was completely soaked. That was the result of cold sweat when he questioned the Devers.
Although his motion was rejected again, Polyxis was now confident, because he saw that the number of people supporting him was increasing.
The Devers were only so-so, next time … He thought excitedly, and his steps became more vigorous, and the voices of the Elders with him became louder.
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